Ryan Anderson Credits Faith For Helping Him Get Through Gia Allemandís Death

Ryan Anderson still isnít over longtime girlfriend Gia Allemandís death. In some ways, heíll never be over her tragic suicide, but this week, he spoke publically for the first time about his grief and credited his teammates, his coaches, his family and his faith for helping him push forward.

According to The Times-Picayune, Anderson is already working on establishing a foundation to honor his fallen girlfriend. Heís refusing to divulge the exact details of what the foundationís mission will be, but apparently, its basic purpose will be to let people know theyíre never alone in this world.

Allemand and Anderson dated for about two and a half years, but in the weeks leading up to her death, they began fighting quite a bit and allegedly talking about a possible break-up. After one particularly bad fight prior to his New Orleans Pelicans practice, she took her own life. He spent a few weeks coping and even penned a loving tribute to her, but eventually, he returned to practice to try and move forward.

Here's a portion of what he had to say yesterday...

"I praise God every day to have Him in my life. It would be very, very hard to get through these steps if I didn't have God and Jesus Christ in my life. I'm really glad coach asked me to come back when he did. I've been here for a few weeks now and just being around the guys and being back in the gym, having some sort of routine back, it helps a little bit."

Pop Blendís sincerest thoughts go out to Anderson during this time of need. No one expects to have to shoulder a blow that devastating, but deep inside all of us, we have the tools to fight off anything. Hereís to hoping he carries on Giaís loving spirit and uses it to make him a better person and to improve the lives of others.